Thank you to all who participated in our 2021 Triple Threat Training Summer Camps! We look forward to hosting more camps in the 2022 year. Stay tuned to this page for more updates heading into the summer.
Program Overview
Opera NUOVA's emerging artist training programs for young adults has produced many of Canada's musical theatre and operatic heavyweights since 1999. Now, for the first time, NUOVA is expanding to help develop younger musical artists build the skills to become a triple threat!
Opera NUOVA's Triple Threat Training Camps are two-week, 8-day intensive programs designed for students aged 9-17 who are ready to take their skills to the next level in areas of Singing, Dance, Tap, Speech and Acting. Students will receive training in Musical Theatre performance techniques from our esteemed faculty of performing arts pros who are expert in nurturing and inspiring young artists. Camps will take place in Edmonton at The King’s University, primarily in our outdoor performance tent. Campers will deliver a final outdoor performance at the end of their session.
Scholarships are available for young artists in need of funding. Please contact admin@operanuova.ca with a request.
Please note: Opera NUOVA will follow all provincial and AHS guidelines and restrictions to allow for the safest possible experience. The health and safety of our students, staff and families is our top priority. If for any reason, the camp cannot continue in a live format, refunds will be issued and the camp will not pivot to an online format.
Dates & Details
Two age groups are available:
- Ages 9-12, maximum capacity of 15 students per camp
- Ages 13-17, maximum capacity of 12 students per camp
Programs are 4 days a week leaving families a three-day weekend to take advantage of our gorgeous Alberta summers!
Time: 9:00AM – 4:30PM (campers will need to provide their own bagged lunch, snacks and water bottle)
Price: $450
2021 Faculty Overview
Kim Mattice Wanat - Singing
Kim Mattice Wanat is a performer, teacher and director. She founded Opera NUOVA in 1998 and has acted as the Artistic and Managing Director since its inception. She has produced and directed several of Opera NUOVA’s productions including Bock & Harnick's Fiddler on the Roof, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, Offenbach’s La Périchole, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Canadian Première of Mark Adamo’s Little Women and all of NUOVA’s school touring productions, most notably, a Canada Council commissioned opera written by NUOVA alumnus Isaiah Bell entitled The Lives of Lesser Things; and Dean Burry’s Isis and the Seven Scorpions & and The Brothers Grimm.
She is presently an instructor at the University of Alberta in the drama department and regularly works as a clinician for voice and choral teachers and as a musical director for musical theatre productions. Her commitment to sharing her expertise with young singers, actors, teachers and choral directors has earned her extensive recognition including Global Edmonton Television’s Woman of Vision Award, The City of Edmonton’s Salute to Excellence in the Arts Award and The YWCA’s Woman of Distinction in Arts and Culture Award. Most recently, she was 1 of 100 Albertans chosen by the Alberta Centennial Celebrations committee who recognized her significant achievement and contribution as a voice teacher and artistic director. In 2006, she wrote and published a vocal pedagogy book entitled, Unleashing the Expressive Resonant Voice!
Renée Brad - Singing
Canadian mezzo-soprano Renée Brad has performed in opera, oratorio, musical theatre, and chamber and solo recitals throughout Canada and in New York. Renée recently premiered her new cabaret Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession for the Golden Apple Theatre Company. She has appeared with Edmonton Opera, Opera Nuova, Opera Saskatchewan and the Saskatoon Opera. Favourite theatre roles include Rose in The Secret Garden, Meg Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Katisha in The Mikado, Amy in Company, and Ella in Bells are Ringing. Renée’s recording of Elizabeth Raum’s How Bodies Leave Ecstatic Marks with the Contrasts Trio for the CMC Centrediscs label won a 2008 Western Canadian Music Award. Renée maintains an active private studio, is a voice instructor in the MacEwan University Theatre Arts Program, and is in demand as an adjudicator and clinician.
Ruth Alexander - Speech / Acting
Ruth trained as an actor at London's Rose Bruford College and has worked consistently with many of the UK's best known stage and screen companies. She is a versatile and highly experienced stage performer with credits ranging from Shakespeare to Sondheim. Screen credits include Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Waterloo Road, Shelfstackers. Ruth is an accomplished acting / voice teacher and vocal coach. She is a highly skilled pianist and a multi-instrumentalist with many years of teaching experience at some of the world's best training institutions.
Elaine Dunbar - Speech / Acting / Pianist
Elaine Dunbar is a teacher and performer of music and theatre with over 35 years of experience. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Alberta; an A.R.C.T. in singing performance from the Royal Conservatory; a B.F.A. in theatre acting from Ryerson University in Toronto; and has studied musical theatre at the Banff Centre. She is a member of the RCM College of Examiners and of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Elaine teaches private music lessons, is a vocal coach in the Theatre Arts program at Grant MacEwan university, is music director at Grace United church, is vocal coach and show band leader for two high school music theatre programs in Sherwood Park, is co- founder of the children’s theatre company “Dramatic Learning”, and works as an examiner, adjudicator and performer.
Marie Nychka - Dance
Marie began her career as a dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ballet Brazil, and Ballet de Roma working across Canada and in Italy, Brazil, New York, Florida, and the Caribbean. For more than thirty years she has been a freelance actor, director, choreographer, adjudicator, and teacher. She is a regular faculty member and choreographer for Opera NUOVA. She teaches in both the BA Drama and BFA Acting Programs in the Department of Drama at the University of Alberta where she has received several teaching awards including the prestigious William Hardy Alexander Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2016). Marie has been nominated eight times and twice received the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for Outstanding Choreography. When she is not on stage, in rehearsal, or in class, you will find her riding her horse, Indy, who also loves to dance. In 2016 Marie was honoured by The Ukrainian Canadian Committee with the Nation Builders Award for years of outstanding service to Ukrainian dance in Canada.
Peter Mills - Tap
Peter trained at the prestigious Boston Conservatory where he obtained a BFA in Musical Theatre. Since graduating over ten years ago he has worked as a performer, choreographer and instructor across Canada, the U.S and India. Some of Peter's professional stage credits include: Hello, Dolly! (Ford's Theater, DC), Evita (Northern Stage, VT), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Goodspeed Opera, CT), Bye Bye Birdie (North Shore Music Theater, MA), Curtains, Crazy for You, and Annie (Music Theater of Wichita, KA), Guys and Dolls (Ogunquit Playhouse, ME), and Kiss Me, Kate (Lyric Stage Company of Boston, MA). Now residing in Edmonton, CA, where he continues to share the magic he discovers in the arts with his students.
